Presently, packaging artworks generally include a number of art objects such as logos, barcodes, text, and pallet patterns.
It is often necessary for art objects such as barcodes to be located in a particular position or to have a certain minimum size. Further, a company may have specific rules regarding the use of their trade marks or logos. Such rules are sometimes documented in a manual, however if the person creating an artwork is not aware of the rule or chooses to ignore it, an artwork can be produced which does not comply with the requirements. When the nature of the task of creating such packaging artwork is considered, it becomes apparent that it is a very complex task where a number of people and organisations are involved in the process and there is often poor communication between the participants which can lead to unsatisfactory packaging artwork being produced which needs to be reworked prior to production. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved system which avoids some of the foregoing problems. Further, when there are changes to art objects such as logos it is difficult to determine what artworks need to be changed as a result. For example, a company may modify a brand logo and need to alter all packaging which incorporates this logo. Thus, it would be desirable to be able to automatically alter all artworks which use an altered logo when an alteration is made.
In a second aspect the present invention relates to a method and system for dividing an area of an electronic document into a plurality of selectable regions. Advantageously, the second aspect of the invention may be used in combination with the first aspect of the invention.
Previously it has been know to divide an area of an electronic document by means of a grid. A grid, generally consists of a plurality of equally spaced apart horizontal and vertical lines which have an even spacing and which divide the area of an electronic document into a plurality of equal areas. Such grid lines, are commonly used in computer programs which are used to generate artworks or drawings, but can also be used in the generation of flow charts and the like. Objects can be positioned in the document and fixed in position in a manner defined by the grid lines. An object can either be incorporated directly into the artwork or as part of a text or picture box—i.e. by defining an area within the electronic document area into which further objects such as text or pictures are to be incorporated. An inherent problem with such a system is that the grid remains fixed relative to the borders of the area of the electronic document within which it is provided. That is, typically the grid is defined in a fixed manner relative to each page of the electronic document. From an aesthetic point of view, in order to achieve balance in a document, it is necessary to define some relationship between objects which have already been incorporated into the drawing, artwork, or flow chart and future objects.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an alternative technique for dividing an area of an electronic document to a plurality of regions.